For the love of the game

Parents go to great lengths to fulfill a baseball team's tournament dreams.

May 13, 2007|By Paola Iuspa-Abbott Staff Writer

When a team of 12-year-olds from west of Boca Raton arrives at the Cooperstown Dreams Park National Invitational Tournament in New York, the long drives to baseball games, the car washes and garage sales will have paid off.

The West Boca Panthers Travel Baseball team is one of the 96 teams from across the nation that will compete in the June tournament. At the end of the weeklong event, each team member will be inducted into the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame, similar to the National Baseball Hall of Fame for the major league.

For the Panthers' parents, the road to the tournament meant raising $17,000 for operational costs, the coaches and the umpire's expenses, said Debbie Barash, whose son, Michael, is on the 13-member team.

But the end of the journey promises to be priceless.

"It will be a dream come true," Barash said.

At least twice a week, the parents shuttle their children to games from Jupiter to northern Broward County. Sundays are long. The children often play back-to-back games.

"Awesome pitch, James!" Barash screamed at one of the players as she sat in a lawn chair at a recent evening game in Coral Springs. By 9:30 p.m., the game had another hour to go, and Barash had yet to go home to cook dinner for Michael, 12, Andrew, 11, and husband Jamie. About 10 other parents sat next to her, cheering for the team.

"George, nice hustle, baby!" Barash yelled again.

The parents wish they could sleep longer some days or relax on weekends, but that is not an option. With their sons in a traveling baseball team, they are resigned to spending a lot of time on the road, especially now that the team is heading to Cooperstown.

"In three years, the team played 240 games," Tony Vacca said. "I missed seven because of work. Sometimes I can't get out."

He often arranges to leave work early to take his son Jason, 12, to the game and then goes home to do some work, he said. He tries to schedule business trips around major games, Vacca said. His son joined the Panthers three years ago, when they relocated west of Boca Raton from Maryland.

For David Feigenbaum, an accountant, it hasn't been easy coaching every game of his son Alec's team during tax season. Before heading to his office on Sundays, he would go to the team's home field in Pinewoods Park to line the field and paint the bases, said his wife Marrae.

"My parents are very involved," Alec said. "My dad manages the team."

In South Florida, games are played year-round, compared with New York, where baseball is limited to spring, Marc Steinberg said.

"We don't have a break," he said.

His son, Peter, joined the Panthers four years ago, soon after the family moved from New York to west of Boca Raton.

Barash and many of the parents say they can't wait for the trip to Cooperstown. Most of them will be traveling with their sons. The children and the coaches will stay at the Hall of Fame complex. The parents plan to pair up to rent homes and enjoy the week without the diversions of work and demands, Barash said.

This is the team's second chance to compete in Cooperstown. Last year, the team was invited to participate, although the children were 11, a year younger than the age required to take part in this tournament, parents said.

But the Panthers lost early in the championship, Barash said.

Steinberg looks forward to a respite. Two of his three children play baseball in a travel team, and one plays volleyball. His son, Peter, is with the Panthers. Steinberg and his wife, Bonnie, are at different games almost every night, he said."We are like ships passing in the night," he said jokingly.

Steinberg had a clot in a lung in November and was unable to drive Peter to the games for almost two months.

"It was hard on my wife," he said. "She had to do all the work."

With the help of other baseball parents, Peter always had a ride and attended every game, he said.

"You have to rely on your friends, especially when you have three kids playing sports," said Steinberg, who went to the game in Coral Springs from work. He was wearing the same blue suit he had on since 5 a.m.

"Everybody makes a lot of sacrifices for baseball," he said. "But it is worth it. The kids love it, and we love it as well."

Michele McClaskie agreed. She saw her house turn into a huge storage shed in the weeks before the team and the parents held a garage sale on her front yard. Toys, clothes, computers, bunk beds and more filled every empty space the night before the event.

"It was overwhelming," said McClaskie, who volunteered to sell soda and cookies during the home games to raise the money for the trip.

The children appreciate their parents' efforts.

"She is always there for me," Michael Barash said about his mother. "She is very active. Whenever we're having a bad game, she finds a way to cheer us up. She roots for me, for my friends ... for everybody."

Paola Iuspa-Abbott can be reached at piuspa@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6631.